In 2286, an unknown probe entirely disabled Spacedock upon reaching Earth. The shutdown happened before any vessels within, including the Excelsior, could be launched, resulting in the equally powerless vessels being trapped behind the space doors. When Kirk and his crew had resolved the crisis, power was restored as the probe left the planet. Kirk was demoted to captain, and offered command of a starship – namely the USS Enterprise-A, which was docked within Spacedock. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

After a brief shakedown cruise, the Enterprise-A returned to Spacedock while Captain Scott worked to resolve design flaws made apparent by the ship's maiden voyage. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

The Enterprise-A was kept at Spacedock prior to an ill-fated trip to escort KlingonChancellorGorkon to a peace conference on Earth in 2293. Kirk ordered a departure from the facility at impulse speed, despite the fact that regulations specified thrusters only while inside the structure. Although LieutenantValeris (the ship's helmsman) initially questioned the captain's order, she successfully performed the departure and later admitted she had "always wanted to try that."

For the month of December in the 2010 Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar, Spacedock is shown being constructed as the USS Enterprise's refit is nearing completion.

In an alternate timeline depicted in the game Star Trek: Armada, the Borg either destroy or assimilate Spacedock.

In the game Star Trek Online, this spacedock was replaced with another sometime before the year 2409. However, the new spacedock's design was not popular amongst players, and there were many calls for it to be replaced with the classic design. For STO's first anniversary on 2 February2011, the developers replaced the new Spacedock with the original facility, explaining it as being the work of Q. Though the external model (as visible from space) appeared to be the classic spacedock, the interior area (which served as a major player hub) remained based on the original, launch design. With the release of the game's Season 9 update, Earth Spacedock received a second revamp to correct the inconsistency, and the interior area received a major redesign to be more appropriate to the scale and presumed layout of Earth spacedock. The change was justified in the story via mission "Surface Tension", in which the Undine caused severe damage to the station during their attack on Earth, necessitating extensive repairs and relocation of player activities to a different area of the dock.